Climbing to the Top: A Reborn Queen's Journey-Chapter 773: Disaster Relief (Part 2)

General Song’s disappointment was not on Jiang Shaohua’s mind.

To her, the entire court’s civil and military officials were her subjects. She knew who was loyal and useful, who was dissatisfied with ulterior motives, and who was undecided. When she needed to appoint someone, she naturally chose trustworthy and capable officials.

General Song was arrogant and self-righteous, leading troops to support the border army, only to be defeated by the Rouran forces. His ability in battle was mediocre at best.

General Liu was low-key and cautious in his duties. With the favor of Liu Hengchang, she naturally chose General Liu.

Having decided on the personnel for disaster relief, the next step was determining the amount of money and food for the relief efforts.

Jiang Shaohua asked Minister Ji, "How much silver can the National Treasury currently spare? How much food can it buy?"

Minister Ji routinely bowed and replied, "I must go back to check the accounts and inventory the warehouse. I will report back to the Emperor in a couple of days."

Jiang Shaohua frowned slightly and said coldly, "I know the Ministry of Revenue affairs are busy, and taxes and money are coming and going daily; Minister Ji doesn’t know the exact numbers, which is normal. But there should be a rough estimate, right? When I was at the Nanyang Prince Mansion before, I could ask casually, and Chief Historian Feng could report the expenses and reserves of the Prince Mansion’s warehouse."

Minister Ji blushed with embarrassment, feeling the heat, and had no choice but to bow and apologize, "It is my incompetence that disappointed Your Majesty."

Jiang Shaohua said, "Instead of talking so much, it would be better to focus your thoughts on your duties. Pay more attention in the future, so when I ask, you won’t have to go back and check the accounts."

Minister Ji felt ashamed and wished he could disappear, repeatedly agreeing.

After the small morning gathering dispersed, the ministers walked briskly back to the offices of the Six Ministries. The other offices were fine, mainly selecting officials for the disaster relief efforts. This used to be a profitable task, and the officials were all willing to go, so it was not a difficult matter.

The real chaos was in the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Industry kept only five people; all others had to follow Minister Zhou to the riverbank to measure and calculate how to repair the riverbank. This was a genuine hard task, and whether they wanted to or not, they had to go.

Yang Zheng volunteered, "I will go along with Lord Minister."

Since coming to the Ministry of Industry, Minister Zhou discreetly dug a big hole for Yang Zheng. Yang Zheng, being skilled, managed to handle temple repair tasks well. Minister Zhou was perceptive and did not dig any more holes afterward, being courteous to this confidant of the Emperor.

Now that Yang Zheng volunteered to go, Minister Zhou found no reason to refuse and agreed with a nod.

Time was tight, and they had to set off in three days. Yang Zheng ordered his long-term follower to prepare his luggage and took along several books he had compiled.

These books contained records of all Ministry of Industry officials’ details. Originally, it was just simple information like name, origin, and age, but now it had become increasingly detailed. It included everyone’s personality, preferences, work habits, as well as their network of relationships and private grudges.

Yang Zheng was still unfamiliar and not skilled in industry affairs but was professional in investigating cases and people.

With such a tough figure like Yang Zheng, Ministry of Industry officials became more cautious even in their speech.

Compared to the Ministry of Industry, which was all hands on deck, the Ministry of Revenue had fewer people dispatched but was the busiest.

Tang Youyin stayed up several nights, his eyes red with exhaustion. The few newly appointed advanced scholars around him also worked busily for several days and nights.

The male advanced scholars still had decent stamina, but the three new female advanced scholars, being from wealthy noble backgrounds, had never suffered like this. One fell ill and had to go home to rest. Behind their backs, Ministry of Revenue officials mocked them, saying," Women should stay in the inner chambers, not work as officials," or other such nasty comments.

The two remaining female advanced scholars were quite upset hearing this.

These two female advanced scholars were Lu Qingqing from the Fan Yang Lu Family and Cui Yun’er from the Boling Cui Family.

Both were legitimate relatives of the Emperor, ranked fourth and fifth among female scholars, naturally ambitious. They were not entirely convinced with the three who stayed in the palace for official tasks.

Lu Zhen was acceptable, but Wang Shu and Li Fangfei relied on their strong backing; truly in terms of talent, they were not superior. They first went to the Ministry of Rites and then rotated to the Ministry of Revenue, fully engaged in learning the tasks.

Now, the Ministry of Revenue was so busy that their feet didn’t touch the ground, yet the illness of one female advanced scholar held them back, causing all female advanced scholars to be ridiculed. Both were indignant and opted to volunteer for disaster relief to Tang Youyin.

Minister Ji was indeed troubled lately, trying to allocate manpower.

Disaster relief was primarily the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue. Organizing relief food supply and army provisions fell on the Ministry of Revenue. At such times, he wished one person could grow a few extra arms; how could there be any surplus manpower?

The two female advanced scholars volunteered, and the anxious Minister Ji readily agreed, adding their names to the list.

With the army accompanying and a large batch of officials going, having a few female advanced scholars among them posed no safety concern, just that it would be busy and exhausting.

Seeing the list presented by the Six Ministries, Jiang Shaohua’s initially furrowed brow relaxed, and she turned to Chen Sheren with a smile: "This time, among the new advanced scholars volunteering for disaster relief, there are thirty-two people, including eight female advanced scholars."

Chen Sheren responded with a smile: "Those who are proactive will naturally seize the opportunity. Regardless of how the task is done, this courage is commendable."

Jiang Shaohua acknowledged: "Note their names down. In future appointments, prioritize them first."

Chen Sheren nodded in agreement.

Currently, she also had a bunch of subordinates to manage. Diagnosed with a happy pulse this month, the writing tasks had to be passed on to Lu Zhen.

After reading the memorial submitted by Minister Ji, Jiang Shaohua couldn’t help but sigh: "With the court’s annual deficit, and me confiscating many large estates since assuming the throne, there are too many places spending silver. Now six counties are affected by the disaster; relief and rescue efforts are a bottomless pit. Relying solely on the Ministry of Revenue won’t suffice."

In the past, when faced with such natural disasters, the court would only claim to do its best on the surface, with the primary focus on pacifying the populace. So long as the victims didn’t turn into a civil uprising, it didn’t matter how many drowned, starved, or died from disease.

The more people died, the fewer survived, naturally enduring through it.

Jiang Shaohua’s effort in relief meant literally trying to save all the disaster-affected people. This posed a tremendous challenge to the National Treasury, which had just started to recover.

Chen Sheren, most familiar with the Emperor’s temperament and disposition, asked: "Is the Emperor considering allocating grain from Nanyang County?"

Jiang Shaohua’s eyes flashed: "Yes, I will personally write to Chief Historian Feng, ordering him to send all available grain to the affected county government offices."

"I also intend to allocate silver from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to buy grain."

Extracting silver from Grand Empress Dowager Zheng’s coffers was certainly not an easy task.

Jiang Shaohua instructed: "Go to Jingyang Palace to deliver the message, saying that after reading the memorial, I plan to pay respects to the Grand Empress Dowager."